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UrduIn one of nature’s unexpected bounties, a harmless food-grade solvent has been used to extract highly sought rare-earth metals from coal ash, reducing the amount of ash without damaging the environment and at the same time increasing an important national resource.
Tag: Environment
California’s climate crisis examined on UCI special report website
For the past half century, the University of California, Irvine has been home to some of the world’s leading experts on the environment, energy, oceans and atmosphere in the Golden State. To share their stories, UCI today is launching a web special report, “California’s Climate Crisis.”
Nuclear waste interaction in the environment may be more complicated than once thought
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators proposed a new mechanism by which nuclear waste could spread in the environment. The new findings, that involve researchers at Penn State and Harvard Medical School, have implications for nuclear waste management and environmental chemistry.
Researchers find eco-friendly way to dye blue jeans
Researchers from the University of Georgia developed a new indigo dyeing technology that’s kinder on the planet. The new technique reduces water usage and eliminates the toxic chemicals that make the dyeing process so environmentally damaging. And to top it off, the technology streamlines the process and secures more color than traditional methods.
False spring: Climate change may erode frogs’ ability to withstand salt pollution
Climate change may erode frogs’ ability to withstand road salt pollution, according to researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
NSF grants $2.5M for seagrass, marine ecosystem research
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences and Environmental Biology awarded a four-year, $2.5 million grant to Drew Harvell, professor emeritus in ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University, to examine the transmission pathways of seagrass wasting disease in coastal meadows.
UCI is No. 2 in Sierra magazine’s 2021 ‘Cool Schools’ ranking of sustainability leaders
Irvine, Calif., Sept. 9, 2021 — The green streak continues! Sierra magazine has named the University of California, Irvine No. 2 overall in its annual “Cool Schools” ranking of sustainability leaders among U.S. and Canadian universities and colleges, marking the 12th time in a row that UCI has placed in the top 10 of the widely acclaimed list.
Ida’s remnants struck idling cold front for historic deluge
The historic and deadly Northeast deluge from Hurricane Ida on Sept. 1 was a result of a calamitous merger between the storm’s remnants and an idling cold front that rapidly turned water vapor into rainfall, according to researchers at Cornell’s NOAA Northeast Regional Climate Center.
Surroundings affect rhythm of an individual’s walk, according to new study
Stepping patterns become slower and more variable if a person is uncomfortable with their surroundings, researchers have found.
Uncertainty for farmers after water pollution rule scrapped
A federal judge on Monday scrapped a Trump administration rule that limited federal protections for streams, marshes and wetlands across the United States. The Biden administration had already sought to undo the policy and this ruling will allow for new…
FAU Kicks Off Fall 2021 Virtual ‘Research in Action’ Series
“Research in Action” is a virtual weekly talk series on Zoom. Each week, participants can listen to experts in their fields as they present their latest research and participate in question-and-answer sessions.
What is the quinoa seed and germplasm collection like?
Increasing genetic diversity protects against total crop failure
Census shows city growth trends that could threaten climate efforts
New 2020 census data released on Thursday shows that nearly all the nation’s growth was in cities. Population growth in urban environments can signal an important trend in fostering sustainable, dense communities, but only if that growth occurs in the…
Mountain lions moved less, downsized territory during LA’s pandemic shutdown
As people sheltered in place at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, sightings of wildlife in urban areas helped spawn a meme, “Nature is healing,” that reflected an intuitive belief: Carnivores were stretching their legs, and their ranges, by expanding into long-lost territory.
Reconnecting the People, Plants and Animals of the Kendall-Frost Marsh
UC San Diego’s Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve has received an $85,000 grant from Honda to create an integrated research and public engagement program centered on bringing Native American perspectives and cutting-edge science into the management and access decisions needed to ensure the marsh’s survival as a community asset.
The executive director of Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute is available to comment on the Aug. 9 report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The executive director of Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute, Gabriel Filippelli, has released a statement and is available to comment on the Aug. 9 report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which the U.N.’s secretary general has described…
Family values outweigh politics in U.S. Latinos’ climate beliefs
For many in the U.S., human-caused climate change is a political tug-of-war between the left and the right. But for Latinos in this country, the issue hits much closer to home.
What’s Killing Coral Reefs in Florida is Also Killing Them in Belize
Only 17 percent of live coral cover remains on fore-reefs in Belize. A study finds new evidence that nitrogen enrichment from land-based sources like agriculture run-off and sewage, are significantly driving macroalgal blooms to increase on the Belize Barrier Reef and causing massive decline in hard coral cover. With only 2 percent of hard coral cover remaining in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, it’s too late to save that reef, but there’s still hope for the Belize Barrier Reef.
Story tips: Sensing oil leaks, 3D prints in space, more fuel from ethanol, Arctic modeling boost, making isotopes faster and nano-enabled microscopy
Story tips: Sensing oil leaks, 3D prints in space, more fuel from ethanol, Arctic modeling boost, making isotopes faster and nano-enabled microscopy
Extreme Heat, Dry Summers Main Cause of Tree Death in Colorado’s Subalpine Forests
Even in the absence of bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire, trees in Colorado subalpine forests are dying at increasing rates from warmer and drier summer conditions, found recent University of Colorado Boulder research.
UC San Diego Receives $35 Million in State Funding for New California Coastal Research Vessel
California legislators have allocated UC San Diego $35 million to design and build a new coastal research vessel with a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-hybrid propulsion system.
The new vessel, which will be operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, will serve as a platform for essential education and research dedicated to understanding the California coast and climate change impacts to the coastal ecosystem.
California’s carbon mitigation efforts may be thwarted by climate change itself
Irvine, Calif., July 22, 2021 – To meet an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, California’s policymakers are relying in part on forests and shrublands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but researchers at the University of California, Irvine warn that future climate change may limit the ecosystem’s ability to perform this service.
Danforth Center Joins Decade of Ag Movement
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced it has joined the Decade of Ag movement, recognizing that a unified vision of sustainable food, fiber and energy systems for the future requires collaboration, endorsement and advancement from across the agricultural value chain.
Browning leaves on Oak Ridge Reservation harbinger of next cicada generation
On the road leading to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, drivers may notice that many of the green trees lining the entrance to the lab are dappled with brown leaves. Just weeks past the summer solstice, this phenomenon is out of place and is in fact evidence of another natural occurrence: cicada “flagging.”
Using snakes to monitor Fukushima radiation
Ten years after one of the largest nuclear accidents in history spewed radioactive contamination over the landscape in Fukushima, Japan, a University of Georgia study has shown that radioactive contamination in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone can be measured through its resident snakes.
Field biologists and NASA planes to map biodiversity in South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region
Scientists from the U.S. and South Africa are launching a campaign to map marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species and ecosystems in one of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots: the Greater Cape Floristic Region at the southwestern edge of South Africa.
Carbon Collect’s MechanicalTree™ Solution Selected for U.S. Department Of Energy award
Carbon Collect’s carbon capture system, based on the research of Klaus Lackner, an engineering professor at Arizona State University, has been selected for a $2.5 million award to support the design of three carbon farms using the company’s passive direct…
Conservation concern as alien aphid detected on Kangaroo Island
An invasive species of aphid could put some threatened plant species on Kangaroo Island at risk as researchers from the University of South Australia confirm Australia’s first sighting of Aphis lugentis on the Island’s Dudley Peninsula.
Tile drainage impacts yield and nitrogen
Draining waterlogged farm fields helps crops but can leach nitrogen into waterways. A three-decade-long experiment is helping farmers strike the right balance.
Where does pyrethrum come from?
Scientists are looking at ways to make more of this natural pesticide
Climate change is driving plant die-offs in Southern California, UCI study finds
Irvine, Calif., June 21, 2021 – A shift is happening in Southern California, and this time it has nothing to do with earthquakes. According to a new study by scientists at the University of California, Irvine, climate change is altering the number of plants populating the region’s deserts and mountains. Using data from the Landsat satellite mission and focusing on an area of nearly 5,000 square miles surrounding Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the research team found that between 1984 and 2017, vegetation cover in desert ecosystems decreased overall by about 35 percent, with mountains seeing a 13 percent vegetation decline.
War against climate change must include managed retreat – now
Climate change will shape the future of coastal communities, with flood walls, elevated structures and possibly floating cities used to combat sea level rise. New research has found that managed retreat must be part of the solution now, and not a last resort.
Johns Hopkins Expert Available to Discuss Heat Wave in U.S. West
As triple-digit temperatures scorch millions in California and the Desert West, stoking wildfires and exacerbating drought conditions, Johns Hopkins experts can discuss the environmental and health impacts of the heat wave, and how officials can better prepare for the rest…
Bioreactors chip away at nitrogen pollution
A recent study shows bioreactors effectively remove nitrogen over time
Microbial respiration with iron
Microbes “breathing in rust” plays an important role in soils
Free Online Video Series Open to the Public ‘Understanding Harmful Algal Blooms in Florida’
The free online series of short videos are designed to provide basic, jargon-free scientific information on harmful algal blooms: what they are; where they live and grow; and causes, impacts, and potential mitigation of blooms. The series is directed toward resource managers and decision-makers as well as the general public.
Losing Nature Impacts Black, Hispanic, and Low-Income Americans Most
When nature vanishes, people of color and low-income Americans disproportionally lose critical environmental and health benefits–including air quality, crop productivity and disease control–a new study in Nature Communications finds.
Single gene boosts climate resilience, yield and carbon capture in crops
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Declining fish biodiversity poses risks for human nutrition
All fish are not created equal, at least when it comes to nutritional benefits. This truth has important implications for how declining fish biodiversity can affect human nutrition, according to a computer modeling study led by Cornell and Columbia University researchers.
Do wildflowers help reduce runoff in roadside soils?
Wildflowers found to absorb runoff just as effectively as turfgrass, among other benefits
Indians face hard choice: cyclone safety or COVID-19 safety
Indians are bracing for the wrath of a powerful cyclone bearing down on the eastern part of the country, while COVID-19 continues to ravage communities with infections and deaths, and after a freak tornado killed two people and damaged homes…
36 Dwarf Galaxies Had Simultaneous “Baby Boom” of New Stars
Three dozen dwarf galaxies far from each other had a simultaneous “baby boom” of new stars, an unexpected discovery that challenges current theories on how galaxies grow and may enhance our understanding of the universe. Galaxies more than 1 million light-years apart should have completely independent lives in terms of when they give birth to new stars. But galaxies separated by up to 13 million light-years slowed down and then simultaneously accelerated their birth rate of stars, according to a Rutgers-led study published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Electric vehicles no environmental savior, could cause power grid problems
As Ford unveils its electric F150, West Virginia University experts note the shift from gasoline-powered engines is not an environmental panacea in the short term, but instead will mean significant and costly upgrades to the nation’s infrastructure. Citing recent events,…
Peatlands pose complex, poorly understood fire risk, researchers warn
Five years after the disastrous wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, researchers are warning that the complex role of peatlands, a factor critical to projecting the risk and behaviour of future fires, is missing from the forecasting model.
Greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions are lengthening and intensifying droughts
Irvine, Calif., May 17, 2021 — Greenhouse gases and aerosol pollution emitted by human activities are responsible for increases in the frequency, intensity and duration of droughts around the world, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine. In a study published recently in Nature Communications, scientists in UCI’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering showed that over the past century, the likelihood of stronger and more long-lasting dry spells grew in the Americas, the Mediterranean, western and southern Africa and eastern Asia.
Orangutan Finding Highlights Need to Protect Habitat
Wild orangutans are known for their ability to survive food shortages, but scientists have made a surprising finding that highlights the need to protect the habitat of these critically endangered primates, which face rapid habitat destruction and threats linked to climate change. Scientists found that the muscle mass of orangutans on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia was significantly lower when less fruit was available. That’s remarkable because orangutans are thought to be especially good at storing and using fat for energy, according a Rutgers-led study in the journal Scientific Reports.
Iconic bird makes its home on campus
With its tree-laden campus and adjacent protected natural reserves, UCI enjoys being home to a great variety of bird species. One particular raptor continues to capture the attention of the many avid birders in Orange County: the white-tailed kite. This iconic bird of Orange County – named for its ability to hover in the air while hunting –nearly went extinct throughout California in the early 1900s due to human-related threats.
James Anderson Wins 2021 Dreyfus Prize in Environmental Chemistry
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation has announced that James G. Anderson, the Philip S. Weld Professor in Chemistry at Harvard University, is the recipient of the 2021 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences. The international biennial Prize, which includes a $250,000 award, is conferred this year in Environmental Chemistry.
Catastrophic Sea-Level Rise from Antarctic Melting is Possible with Severe Global Warming
The Antarctic ice sheet is much less likely to become unstable and cause dramatic sea-level rise in upcoming centuries if the world follows policies that keep global warming below a key 2015 Paris climate agreement target, according to a Rutgers coauthored study. But if global warming exceeds the target – 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) – the risk of ice shelves around the ice sheet’s perimeter melting would increase significantly, and their collapse would trigger rapid Antarctic melting. That would result in at least 0.07 inches of global average sea-level rise a year in 2060 and beyond, according to the study in the journal Nature.
Will your future clothes be made of algae?
Living materials, which are made by housing biological cells within a non-living matrix, have gained popularity in recent years as scientists recognize that often the most robust materials are those that mimic nature.